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A calorimetric test for Kerr black holes in gamma-ray bursts

Maurice H. P. M. van Putten
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Abstract

Cosmological gamma-ray bursts are potentially associated with systems harboring a black rotating black hole. Calorimetry on yet "unseen" emissions in gravitational waves from a surrounding torus may provide a measure for its rotational energy. We introduce a compactness parameter $α=2π\int fdE$ for the fluence $E$ and frequency $f$ in gravitational waves. For black hole-torus systems, $α\simeq 2πEf\simeq 0.005-0.05$ may exceed the upper bound $α^*\simeq 0.005$ for rapidly rotating neutron stars. A duration in gravitational radiation consistent with the redshift corrected durations of the BATSE catalogue defines an association with long GRBs. This promises a new test for Kerr black holes as objects in Nature.

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Maurice H. P. M. van Putten. 2001-10-18. A calorimetric test for Kerr black holes in gamma-ray bursts. https://doi.org/10.1086/338120

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